Bobcats turn it up to a full Boyle

February 25, 2007|MATT KOPSEA Tribune Staff Writer

PLYMOUTH -- Amber Boyle enjoyed a triumphant return to The Rock Saturday afternoon. The former Plymouth native had quite a homecoming by draining six 3-pointers and scoring a game-high 24 points to help No. 3 Oregon-Davis roll to a 77-47 triumph over No. 9 Lapel in the Class 1-A Plymouth girls basketball semistate. With her team down by as many as 11 points (21-10) in the opening quarter, the 5-foot-10 senior Boyle took matters into her hands during the second and third quarters to help the Bobcats (24-3) capture their first semistate. O-D next meets Oakland City Wood Memorial (19-8) at Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis in the state final on Saturday. Boyle tallied 17 points, including five 3-pointers in the rally, and Oregon-Davis used a 22-6 third-quarter spurt to open up a 61-37 cushion heading into the final quarter. Not even 19 points and 10 rebounds from Kayla Skaggs could keep Lapel's season from closing at 22-5. "These girls kept telling me all last summer that we were going to go to state and today, they made their dream come true," said Oregon-Davis coach Terry Minix. "What can you say about Amber other than she had one heck of a game and a great homecoming.'' Boyle played in the Plymouth school system until this season. She shot 8-of-12 overall. Her teammates were 5-of-21 from the floor in the first quarter. "I always enjoyed playing here, so it was really nice coming back,'' said Boyle on the floor afterwards. "Even though we weren't shooting well, the coaches told us to keep playing defense and keep pushing the ball up the court. "We knew the shots would start falling for us and that we would eventually wear them down if we kept playing a fast pace like we always do.'' The Bobcats trailed 12-2 midway through the opening period. Providing the spark to get back on track was freshman Gabi Minix, who netted 16 of her 23 points in the first half to help give O-D a 39-31 halftime lead. "I really wasn't that worried early on because we were still running our offense pretty well," Coach Minix said "The difference was that we kept playing defense. The shots we were missing were good ones and I knew that once we hit a couple that we'd be OK." O-D outscored Lapel, 43-16, during the second and third quarters, forcing 12 turnovers and holding the Bulldogs to 8-of-26 shooting from the floor. "We like to play an up-and-down style, so our plan was to try and turn it into a track meet," Coach Minix explained. "I think it worked because during the early part of the second half you could see they were having a hard time getting up and down the floor." Elizabeth Jennings chipped in 15 points for the Bulldogs, who were guilty of 22 turnovers. "Their dribble penetration really gave us trouble today and forced us to go to a zone which we usually don't play very well," said Lapel coach Kevin Brattain. "We're not used to being down like we were and it showed because we showed a lack of patience and weren't very disciplined at times." Aubrey Minix chipped in 13 points for the Bobcats, who were 21-of-25 from the charity stripe. OREGON-DAVIS 77, LAPEL 47At Plymouth LAPEL (47): Brittany Etchinson 0 0-0 0, Julie Miller 0 0-0 0, Elizabeth Jennings 3 0-0 6, Courtney Prater 7 1-2 15, Kayla Skaggs 9 0-1 19, Hilliary Guion 1 1-2 4, Betsy Guion 0 0-4 0, Nicole Bartel 0 0-0 0, Lauren Turner 0 0-0 0, Ashley Davidson 1 0-0 3, Kelsie Knepp 0 0-0 0, Sara Montgomery 0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 21 2-9 47. OREGON-DAVIS (77): Gabi Minix 7 8-10 23, Aubrey Minix 3 4-4 13, Amber Boyle 8 2-2 24, Sarah Konkey 1 2-2 4, Lauren Kuss 2 4-5 8, Angela Boyle 1 1-2 3, Kelsey Minix 0 0-0 0, Caley Savoie 0 0-0 0, Alivia Sims 0 0-0 0, Kelly Gibson 1 0-0 2, Ariel Yung 1 0-0 2, Samantha Sims 0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 23 21-25 77. Lapel 21 31 37 47 Oregon-Davis 12 39 61 77 3-point goals: LaPel 3 (Skaggs, H. Guion, Davidson), O-D 10 (Am. Boyle 6, A. Minix 3, G. Minix). Total fouls (fouled out): Lapel 22 (Miller), O-D 10. Shooting: Lapel 21-of-50 (42 percent), O-D 23-of-54 (43 percent). Rebounds: Lapel 38 (Skaggs 10), O-D 31 (Konkey 6). Turnovers: Lapel 22, O-D 12. Records: Lapel 22-5, O-D 24-3. Officials: Kim Yelich, Chad Patrick, Stu Casper.Matt Kopsea: Mkopsea@sbtinfo.com